Roku has managed to build a sizable business in streaming video, despite going up against giants that include Apple. Now its technology and lineup of Internet content services could start arriving in living rooms without a set-top box.

The Silicon Valley startup is using the Consumer Electronics Show to announce Roku TV, an initiative to work with manufacturers to build its hardware and software directly into televisions. China’s TCL and Hisense are the first to take part, Roku says, with the first models expected to be available in the U.S. and Canada this fall.

That means making Roku’s home screen and content navigation system central to managing users’ interactions with all video content, removing what Wood describes as all the complicated settings, menus and features that characterize most Internet-connected TVs. There is also a simplified remote control Roku designs that has 20 buttons, which Wood estimates is half the number on traditional remotes.

Yes, Roku TVs can still get conventional programming from sources like cable services. “It does have a tuner,” Wood says. “We would like to get rid of it, but retailers don’t think they can sell them without it.”

Wood estimates that Roku has cumulatively sold nearly 8 million of its set-top boxes, which compete with products like Apple TV. It offers four models that list from $49 to $99 (though it is currently offering $10 off on three models).

Roku has continued to expand its collection of streaming content channels beyond Netflix, its first partner. The company estimates more than 1,200 channels currently are available through its service now.

Under the Roku TV program, the company offers TV makers a hardware “reference design” they can use to make their products as well as the company’s software. Roku plans to manage and continue to update their software and content channels.

TCL and Hisense, part of a mob of new Chinese entries to the market, are not exactly big international names like Sony or a Samsung. But they collectively sold 21 million TVs in 2012, accounting for about 9% of all global TV sales, Roku estimates.

Partners will be the ones that sell Roku TVs, but Roku gets equal branding, Wood says. They are expected to start at sizes ranging from 32 to 55 inches. Pricing has not been set yet, but Wood predicts it will be aggressive.

A big long-term play for Roku is to evolve into a software and content supplier for many TV makers that would rather stick to developing hardware. “The market really needs a common platform,” Wood says.